Posted on: Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Wet, windy weather forecast through Saturday

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Cloudy, wet weather is likely to hang around through Saturday, according to the National Weather Service in Honolulu, and all islands were ripe for rain overnight.

"Across the whole state, the weather pattern is unstable," Tom Birchard, a National Weather Service forecaster, said last night. "But the heaviest threats are in the southwestern portion."

A flash flood watch was canceled yesterday afternoon for O'ahu but remained in effect for the Big Island and Maui, where thunderstorms were possible overnight.

Gusty trade winds are likely to continue at least into Friday, Birchard said, and surf was expected to rise overnight, with wave faces reaching 16 feet on the north shores today and 10 on the eastern shores.

Maui and the Big Island got the brunt of the weather yesterday.

On the Big Island, firefighters rescued a couple whose car was pulled off the road and into a gulch when they tried to cross a storm-swollen stream in Kapulena near Honoka'a.

Stormwater also washed out a huge chunk of Akoni Pule Highway in North Kohala at about 2 p.m., rupturing a water main.

The flooding carved out a swath of roadway 20 feet wide and 8 to 10 feet deep between the police station and the Kohala Hospital in Kapa'au, said Lanny Nakano, assistant civil defense administrator for Hawai'i County.

Nakano said a county water crew was able to install a bypass line to restore water service, except for about 100 homes in 'Ainakea and Hala'ula, which are relying on water tankers .

Other road closures included the road to Laupahoehoe, Waipi'o Valley Road and several secondary roads in Hamakua. The Hilo Bayfront Highway was closed because of high surf.